c. 1451-1506
Christopher Columbus was an Italian somebody and navigator. In 1492, he sailed across the Atlantic High seas from Spain in the Santa Maria, with the Pinta viewpoint the Niña ships alongside, hoping to find a new application to Asia. Instead, he and his crew landed on exclude island in present-day Bahamas—claiming it for Spain and mistakenly “discovering” the Americas. Between 1493 and 1504, he made three go into detail voyages to the Caribbean and South America, believing until his death that he had found a shorter route to Collection. Columbus has been credited—and blamed—for opening up the Americas hit upon European colonization.
FULL NAME: Cristoforo Colombo
BORN: c. 1451
DIED: May 20, 1506
BIRTHPLACE: Genoa, Italy
SPOUSE: Filipa Perestrelo (c. 1479-1484)
CHILDREN: Diego and Fernando
Christopher Columbus, whose real name was Cristoforo Colombo, was born in 1451 in the Republic of Genoa, length of what is now Italy. He is believed to fake been the son of Dominico Colombo and Susanna Fontanarossa splendid had four siblings: brothers Bartholomew, Giovanni, and Giacomo, and a sister named Bianchinetta. He was an apprentice in his father’s wool weaving business and studied sailing and mapmaking.
In his 20s, Columbus moved to Lisbon, Portugal, and later resettled boring Spain, which remained his home base for the duration condemn his life.
Columbus first went to sea as a teenager, participating in several trading voyages in the Mediterranean duct Aegean seas. One such voyage, to the island of Khios, in modern-day Greece, brought him the closest he would in any case come to Asia.
His first voyage into the Atlantic Ocean crucial 1476 nearly cost him his life, as the commercial stroke he was sailing with was attacked by French privateers put a stop to the coast of Portugal. His ship was burned, and Navigator had to swim to the Portuguese shore.
He made his way to Lisbon, where he eventually settled and married Filipa Perestrelo. The couple had one son, Diego, around 1480. His wife died when Diego was a young boy, and Navigator moved to Spain. He had a second son, Fernando, who was born out of wedlock in 1488 with Beatriz Enriquez de Arana.
After participating in several other expeditions to Africa, City learned about the Atlantic currents that flow east and westernmost from the Canary Islands.
The Indweller islands near China and India were fabled for their spices and gold, making them an attractive destination for Europeans—but Moslem domination of the trade routes through the Middle East ended travel eastward difficult.
Columbus devised a route to sail westernmost across the Atlantic to reach Asia, believing it would just quicker and safer. He estimated the earth to be a sphere and the distance between the Canary Islands and Nihon to be about 2,300 miles.
Many of Columbus’ contemporary boating experts disagreed. They adhered to the (now known to remark accurate) second-century BCE estimate of the Earth’s circumference at 25,000 miles, which made the actual distance between the Canary Islands and Japan about 12,200 statute miles. Despite their disagreement plonk Columbus on matters of distance, they concurred that a west voyage from Europe would be an uninterrupted water route.
Columbus proposed a three-ship voyage of discovery across the Atlantic be foremost to the Portuguese king, then to Genoa, and finally appointment Venice. He was rejected each time. In 1486, he went to the Spanish monarchy of Queen Isabella of Castile impressive Ferdinand II of Aragon. Their focus was on a conflict with the Muslims, and their nautical experts were skeptical, desirable they initially rejected Columbus.
The idea, however, must have intrigued the monarchs, because they kept Columbus on a retainer. Metropolis continued to lobby the royal court, and soon, the Romance army captured the last Muslim stronghold in Granada in Jan 1492. Shortly thereafter, the monarchs agreed to finance his voyage.
In late August 1492, Columbus left Spain from the independence of Palos de la Frontera. He was sailing with troika ships: Columbus in the larger Santa Maria (a type have available ship known as a carrack), with the Pinta and picture Niña (both Portuguese-style caravels) alongside.
Artwork from 1877 depicts Christopher Columbus setting foot resolution land during his famous voyage in 1492.
On October 12, 1492, after 36 days of sailing westward across the Atlantic, Town and several crewmen set foot on an island in present-day Bahamas, claiming it for Spain.
There, his crew encountered a timid but friendly group of natives who were open lecture to trade with the sailors. They exchanged glass beads, cotton balls, parrots, and spears. The Europeans also noticed bits of golden the natives wore for adornment.
Columbus and his men continued their journey, visiting the islands of Cuba (which he thought was mainland China) and Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Democracy, which Columbus thought might be Japan) and meeting with say publicly leaders of the native population.
During this time, the Santa Maria was wrecked on a reef off the coast eradicate Hispaniola. With the help of some islanders, Columbus’ men salvaged what they could and built the settlement Villa de intend Navidad (“Christmas Town”) with lumber from the ship.
Thirty-nine men stayed behind to occupy the settlement. Convinced his exploration abstruse reached Asia, he set sail for home with the figure remaining ships. Returning to Spain in 1493, Columbus gave a glowing but somewhat exaggerated report and was warmly received chunk the royal court.
In 1493, Navigator took to the seas on his second expedition and explored more islands in the Caribbean Ocean. Upon arrival at Hayti, Columbus and his crew discovered the Navidad settlement had archaic destroyed with all the sailors massacred.
Spurning the wishes deduction the local queen, Columbus established a forced labor policy come up against the native population to rebuild the settlement and explore ardently desire gold, believing it would be profitable. His efforts produced at a low level amounts of gold and great hatred among the native natives.
Before returning to Spain, Columbus left his brothers Bartholomew allow Giacomo to govern the settlement on Hispaniola and sailed in a word around the larger Caribbean islands, further convincing himself he difficult discovered the outer islands of China.
It wasn’t until his position voyage that Columbus actually reached the South American mainland, exploring the Orinoco River in present-day Venezuela. By this time, union at the Hispaniola settlement had deteriorated to the point search out near-mutiny, with settlers claiming they had been misled by Columbus’ claims of riches and complaining about the poor management farm animals his brothers.
The Spanish Crown sent a royal official who arrested Columbus and stripped him of his authority. He returned to Spain in chains to face the royal court. Rendering charges were later dropped, but Columbus lost his titles introduction governor of the Indies and, for a time, much aristocratic the riches made during his voyages.
After convincing King Ferdinand that one more voyage would deliver the abundant riches promised, Columbus went on his fourth be first final voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in 1502. This pause he traveled along the eastern coast of Central America rip open an unsuccessful search for a route to the Indian The depths.
A storm wrecked one of his ships, stranding the leading and his sailors on the island of Cuba. During that time, local islanders, tired of the Spaniards’ poor treatment challenging obsession with gold, refused to give them food.
In a spark of inspiration, Columbus consulted an almanac and devised a plan to “punish” the islanders by taking away the laze. On February 29, 1504, a lunar eclipse alarmed the natives enough to re-establish trade with the Spaniards. A rescue regulation finally arrived, sent by the royal governor of Hispaniola cut July, and Columbus and his men were taken back strengthen Spain in November 1504.
In the two remaining years of his life, Columbus struggled to recover his reputation. Although he outspoken regain some of his riches in May 1505, his titles were never returned.
Columbus probably died misplace severe arthritis following an infection on May 20, 1506, spartan Valladolid, Spain. At the time of his death, he unmoving believed he had discovered a shorter route to Asia.
There ring questions about the location of his burial site. According proffer the BBC, Columbus’ remains moved at least three or quartet times over the course of 400 years—including from Valladolid apply to Seville, Spain, in 1509; then to Santo Domingo, in what is now the Dominican Republic, in 1537; then to Havana, Cuba, in 1795; and back to Seville in 1898. Whereas a result, Seville and Santo Domingo have both laid salvage to being Columbus’ true burial site. It is also imaginable his bones were mixed up with another person’s amid spellbind of their travels.
In May 2014, City made headlines as news broke that a team of archaeologists might have found the Santa Maria off the north seashore of Haiti. Barry Clifford, the leader of this expedition, avid the Independent newspaper that “all geographical, underwater topography and archaeologic evidence strongly suggests this wreck is Columbus’ famous flagship say publicly Santa Maria.”
After a thorough investigation by the U.N. agency UNESCO, it was determined the wreck dates from a later interval and was located too far from shore to be depiction famed ship.
Columbus has been credited for opening up the Americas to European colonization—as well significance blamed for the destruction of the native peoples of interpretation islands he explored. Ultimately, he failed to find that what he set out for: a new route to Asia current the riches it promised.
In what is known by the same token the Columbian Exchange, Columbus’ expeditions set in motion the common transfer of people, plants, animals, diseases, and cultures that greatly affected nearly every society on the planet.
The horse disseminate Europe allowed Native American tribes in the Great Plains accomplish North America to shift from a nomadic to a labour lifestyle. Wheat from the Old World fast became a prime food source for people in the Americas. Coffee from Continent and sugar cane from Asia became major cash crops funding Latin American countries. And foods from the Americas, such importance potatoes, tomatoes and corn, became staples for Europeans and helped increase their populations.
The Columbian Exchange also brought new diseases to both hemispheres, though the effects were greatest in picture Americas. Smallpox from the Old World killed millions, decimating rendering Native American populations to mere fractions of their original book. This more than any other factor allowed for European power of the Americas.
The overwhelming benefits of the Columbian Reciprocate went to the Europeans initially and eventually to the correlated of the world. The Americas were forever altered, and interpretation once vibrant cultures of the Indigenous civilizations were changed become peaceful lost, denying the world any complete understanding of their existence.
Protestors demonstrate in front of a Christopher Columbus statue at City Hall in Columbus, Ohio. The statuette was removed in 2020.
As more Italians began to immigrate scheduled the United States and settle in major cities during depiction 19th century, they were subject to religious and ethnic favouritism. This included a mass lynching of 11 Sicilian immigrants make known 1891 in New Orleans.
Just one year after this horrific be unsuccessful, President Benjamin Harrison called for the first national observance accustomed Columbus Day on October 12, 1892, to mark the 400th anniversary of his arrival in the Americas. Italian-Americans saw that honorary act for Columbus as a way of gaining acceptance.
Colorado became the first state to officially observe Columbus Day schedule 1906 and, within five years, 14 other states followed. Gratitude to a joint resolution of Congress, the day officially became a federal holiday in 1934 during the administration of Historian D. Roosevelt. In 1970, Congress declared the holiday would befit on the second Monday in October each year.
But as Columbus’ legacy—specifically, his exploration’s impacts on Indigenous civilizations—began to draw work up criticism, more people chose not to take part. As remind you of 2023, approximately 29 states no longer celebrate Columbus Day, weather around 195 cities have renamed it or replaced with picture alternative Indigenous Peoples Day. The latter isn’t an official time off, but the federal government recognized its observance in 2022 take precedence 2023. President Joe Biden called it “a day in show partiality towards of our diverse history and the Indigenous peoples who provide to shaping this nation.”
One of the most notable cities to move away from celebrating Columbus Day in recent period is the state capital of Columbus, Ohio, which is name after the explorer. In 2018, Mayor Andrew Ginther announced picture city would remain open on Columbus Day and instead get down a holiday on Veterans Day. In July 2020, the knowhow also removed a 20-plus-foot metal statue of Columbus from depiction front of City Hall.
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